Jane LaFazio

I am loving blogging! There is such a sharing world out there. Especially in the Fiber Arts world. Each new blog that I discover adds to my overall being as an artist. There is such a community of mostly women, who are generously sharing ideas and techniques.......I love it! Mostly I love the blogs that ask "Why?"

This morning I discovered the Blogs of Jane Lafazio. Fantastic. And she is in San Diego which is a city that I frequent! Ha....Go Jane.

This last week I attended, for one night only, the national SAQA convention in Denver at the Brown Palace.....it was very interesting. The expense was way beyond my means, so I had an invitation to the cocktail hour only. There was a trunk show that was fantastic. However, there were no names on any of the work. Why? Damn it, Why? I had a great deal of fun there. Many of the attendees I knew through Front Range Contemporary Quilters, a Denver area group. I'm getting too old to be a starving artist. Another highlight was the arrival of Vice President Biden in a gargantuan Limo. We passed so many cops on the way in and out of the Brown Palace...It was very interesting.

Revisiting "Green Art"

Security Blanket #2

Now that I think about it my Security Blanket series is using the tag ends in the composition. The tag ends normally would have been thrown out by most sewers and quilters. This is probably the best example of "repurposing" items for Art. Ha.....the difference is that I did not start with the premiss of making Green Art. I didn't even see it until recently when a friend pointed it out...So look in your trash bin and see what is in there that you can use. I am stopping at banana peels tho. Most of the fabric in this series is from a Garage Sale. I am resisting the title of green or repurpose or recycle. Again, Why?

More on the why of things........

When I start a new fiber piece I generally have a pretty good idea how it will turn out, what it will look like, before I start. In other words the finished product. First I assemble the colors and thread that I'll need. I cut the shapes and place them on my "wall". Then I start asking myself why this shape, or why this color, or why this texture. And above all...is this an original idea. Who are my influences. If there is a strong influence, I ask myself if I am directly plagiarizing or taking the idea to another level. If in my questioning I discover an unconscious copying then I will scratch the whole project. Next the process of elimination takes place. I almost always use too many of everything. This may take several days or a week. I'll go away, come back, and then go away again. Or I will work on another piece. The idea of the piece never leaves me. I think about it all the time....when I am in the barn feeding horses, the grocery store, at a friend's house, walking with my dog, etc. This is the stage when intuition plays the biggest part. I probably should not be allowed to cross the road by myself. I am very spacey and preoccupied.

After the questioning of why I am doing this piece comes the "how to do it". The cutting, fusing, quilting, etc. then goes very fast. Sometimes the end result will not be like anything that I started with. This is the fun phase where creativity takes over and the Art Gods move into my head. Nothing can be predicted from this point on. I never stop asking why this or that. I play with an idea until it works.

Always remember that the word plagiarize means taking someone else's work and making it your own. And without credit to the original.

"Why" comes back again.....

I belong to several art quilt groups and they are always asking how to do this and how to do that. I ask, "Why do you do that and for what reason and to what end?" It is too easy to take a number of classes that teach how to do various techniques and then adapt them to your work. Soon your fiber art/quilts will look just like the teacher. It is a dead end that I try to avoid. I have had several teachers that have such strong wills that it has been hard for me to shake their attitudes after I leave their presence. This sometimes leaves me with a creative block. After some time has passed the advice from the better teachers comes back to me and I start the process of asking "Why?" again. I try to take the best of their advice and throw the rest away. I have an inter voice that I try to listen to at all times. The title of my blog is The Art of Why. I just need to remind myself to always ask questions and try to find a logical answer. Sometimes logic escapes me and creative juices take over. After a piece of art work is underway and the craziness of it has passed I can then ask why. These were just some things that I was thinking about this morning.

Golden Quilt Museum "Frontiers" Exhibit

Well...the opening of the quilt show at the Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum came off well. I made it through the evening without spilling wine, forgetting someone's name or falling down. I did loose my purse with $100.00 cash in it for around 2 hours. It was still on the table in the middle of the room where I had left it. The quilt is called Security Blanket #1. There was quite a discussion about the process of "tag ends" or "security blankets" that I used. Mostly long time quilters recognized what I had used and said "Oh, yes, I know what those are." Afterwards we went out to dinner in Golden with friends and had a wild time. At the end of the evening I presented all with fiber art Fortune Cookies with real groaner pithy mottos. I am really grateful to my friends who came out on a Friday night to support me. For they were thinking "Quilt Show", but gee this is going to be boring. They were surprised and amazed at the talent of the women that displayed their work in this show. So, I guess I am not a virgin any longer. Look out quilting world, here I come..........

Security Blankets

I haven't posted for a while. I'm working on a series of fiber pieces that I call Security Blankets. I have saved all the tag ends of my sewing table. The texture is so wonderful and deeply rich. The project has produced 2 so far and I am working on the 3rd piece. I know that almost no one is reading this blog, which makes it even better. I am thinking of it as a journal instead. I have a few blogs that I read on a regular basis and the advise from these people is to just write every day. Forget content, forget the world, just get your ideas down.

Tonight I am making my first entry into exhibiting in the Fiber Arts world. I have been accepted into a show called Frontiers at the Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum. I have absolutely no idea what to expect. I feel so absolutely humble. The other quilt artists are so good and have been around for years and years. So...I am jumping into the fire.

I have found that the community of women making up the bulk of the Fiber Art World is a pretty awesome group. I have had such encouragement and positive feedback that it has allowed me to move forward with a swift learning curve.